News

SWEET LU COMES THROUGH
OCTOBER 15, 2007 – The Lucinda interview is in the can. After a couple years of trying to coordinate schedules with Lucinda Williams, the planets aligned and we finally caught up with her in Austin last month while she was in town for the Austin City Limits Festival and TV Show. Lu was so sweet and gracious to sit down for the interview after taping ACL on September 18. It was like old home week with lots of memories. Lucinda’s thoughts and comments about the old days at the Fair represent the final piece of the puzzle. Thanks Lu. Bless your sweet heart.

We want to send a big “gracias por todo” to the folks at KLRU-TV and the crew of Austin City Limits for their hospitality and in-kind contribution of crew and equipment while we were in Austin. Special thanks to General Manager Bill Stotesbery for setting the wheels in motion; producer, Jeff Peterson for handling the details and to technical director, Ed Fuentes for his help setting up our interview with Lucinda. Extra special thanks to ACL director Gary Menotti for inviting us to watch the taping of Austin City Limits from the control room. You are the maestro, Gary.

ROGER THAT
OCTOBER 1, 2007 – The offline edit is well underway. We anticipate having the first, rough assembly of THE MOVIE shortly—that’s the long version without the supporting visuals like still photos and archival film. So there’s still major work to be done, not the least of which is raising the funds to cover the HARD costs of finishing the film. It costs mucho moolah to purchase stock footage, mix the sound, color correct the pictures to make them even prettier and to up-rez this puppy to glorious high definition. Then there’s the lawyers, too…they really are good folks, but they ain’t cheap.

Won the lottery? Know anybody who loves folk music? Know anybody who loves Houston? Want to be a part of something really special, guaranteed? Please do whatever you can to help us finish this film. No donation is too small or too large. Tell your friends about us.

We also owe a HUGE thank you and want to give credit to Jerry W. Walsh. Jerry took a lot of great still photos “back in the day” and has offered them to us for the film. Jerry shot the photo of Roger Ruffcorn seen here. He also shot the pictures of Lyse, Francie and Lilly the chimp on the “ABOUT GHOST RANCH FILMS” page and the photo of Francie, Roger, Stephen and Lyse on the “SUPPORT” page of this website. Thanks, Jerry. UDAMAN!

In the near future, we’re going to need a few warm bodied volunteers to help with research, office stuff and other stuff we haven’t thought up yet but know we’re going to need. Drop us an email at mail@anderesonfairthemovie.com and let us know how you’d like to help.

COMING SOON
JUNE 1, 2007 - The reason you haven't heard form us lately is we've been locked up in a small room in the Houston Heights honing down 120 hours of material into something a bit more manageable for our editor. Now, with seven hours of choice stuff ready to go, the real editing is about to begin. We hope to have our first "rough cut" by the fall. That's this year.

FOLK ANGELS
MAY 1, 2007 - We wouldn't be able to move forward if it weren't for the Angels who've appeared recently. We want to thank from the bottom of our hearts longtime Anderson Fair family member and patron, Elizabeth Phillips, for her extremely generous support. Elizabeth's gift will get this movie edited. How big is that? But we're not finished yet and we still need to raise funds to cover the hard cost of finishing this film...color correction, high def conforming, sound mixing, etc. We also want to thank the Berman Family Foundation and Molly Gochman for their generous support.

POETRY, TEXAS (Thanks Vince & Ray Wylie)
April 19, 2007 - We're pleased as punch, make that a Shiner Premium, that Steve Fromholz has been named poet laureate of Texas for 2007 by Governor Rick Perry. Far as we're concerned, there's not a more deserving artist in this state. Fromholz says he'll be dressing all in black and wearing a beret at all his gigs for the next year. Eric and Denice will like that. When asked if he enjoys poetry, Steven said, "I like chicken, turkey, duck, pea hens, guinea fowl - I love poultry, always have." We've been telling everybody this stuff is poetry. Oh, that's right, you haven't seen the movie yet. Stay tuned.

FOLK LORE (by Eileen McClelland, Houston Chronicle)
New documentary to capture the unlikely history of Houston's venerable Anderson Fair

Tim Leatherwood likes to say that Anderson Fair Retail Restaurant has been out of business for 37 years. The live-music venue closes in the summer, is staffed with volunteers and has never made a profit worth mentioning. And Leatherwood, Anderson Fair's current owner, has been known to refund customers' money and show them the door if they make too much noise. (read more: just click on this link )

MUNDOTISH
March 26, 2007 - From the White House to el barrio, Tish Hinojosa has enchanted, enlightened and entertained countless listeners with her distinctive cross-cultural music. In the process, she has become one of the most acclaimed and beloved artists in the contemporary Latin and folk scene. Tish is a regular at the Fair and For The Sake Of The Song wouldn't be complete without her. We had the extreme pleasure of interviewing Tish for the film and recording her show when she was here on March 24. Thanks, Tish. We love you.

HISTORY CENTER PLEDGES SUPPORT
February 1, 2007 - Our good friend and champion, Dr. Don Carleton, Director of The Center for American History at U.T. Austin, has pledged the official support of the center. Don has been behind the project from the very beginning but is now ready to put the weight of the CAH behind us. Don's Associate Director, Ramona Kelly, has also been extremely generous sharing her advice and expertise as a successful documentary producer. Gracias por todo, Don and Ramona.


UPANDCOMERS SHOT AT THE FAIR
September 28, 2006 - Or should we say filmed? Don't worry nobody got hurt. But we did get some great stuff during a recent Songwriters Night presented by Ken Gaines with Wayne Wilkerson. Ken welcomed Matt Harlan and Greg Klyma to the Fair for a great evening of great songs from these new kids on the block. These guys are good.


FUNDING CONTINUES AS EDIT BEGINS
July 25, 2006 – With the Nanci Griffith and Bill Staines shows in the can, we’re entering the early stages of post-production with over 100 hours of new material and over 20 hours of archival footage. But there’s still a little more shooting to do and months of editing ahead…and the kitty’s runnin’ thin. We’re still seeking support on all levels, from modest individual gifts to major corporate and private foundation funding. Thanks to everyone who has supported the film so far.

LIFTED UP BY ANGELS
July 1, 2006 – Nanci Griffith returned to Anderson Fair on June 16 & 17 to perform two very special fund-raising concerts for the film. Both sold-out shows were absolutely magical and a resounding success. Denice Franke opened for Nanci on both nights and sang backup vocals during Nanci’s sets. Clive Gregson accompanied on guitar. Thank you, Nanci, Denice and crew for your gift of and time and music.

Nanci also visited with friends and supporters of the film for a screening of the work-in-progress at the Rice Media Center on June 15. Special thanks to Austin artist, Bill Narum, for creating a great poster for the concerts and to everyone who came out to see Nanci and support the film. Very special thanks to Bob, Bob, Bobby, Franci, Gail, Lyse, Joy, Mary, Michelle, Mitzi, Tim and all of the other volunteers who made it all happen.

THE NEW HIP
June 15, 2006 – We visited with Bill Staines and filmed his show at The Fair in early June. Bill has been one of the mainstays of Anderson Fair for over thirty years. Bill was actually one of the first “national” artists to play the current music room after the “hole-in-the-wall” expansion in the early ‘70s. By now Bill should be resting comfortably back east with a new hip. All young players take note, Fromholz was right. When asked for advice by a young guitar player at Kerrville, Steve said, “Change legs.”

HILL COUNTRY HOLIDAY
June 5, 2006 – We traveled to Kerrville on Memorial Day to catch up with Guy Clark, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Robert Earl Keen and The Texas Flatliners (Vince Bell, Steve Fromholz and Eric Taylor). We spent the next day shooting interviews at the YO Ranch before jumping over to Austin for more interviews with historians Don Carleton and Michael Scully, Texas music writer Joe Nick Patoski, artist Bill Narum and veteran Texas guitar player, Mickey White.

Stay tuned. Gracias por todo.